Embraced By Fire
by FuriousAbyss
Summary: Sent on a routine mission with two recruits, Blitz and IQ are tested to their utmost limits, unsuspecting of how this simple op is going to change all of their lifes.


_Embraced By Fire_

* * *

"Detonating!"

With a resounding bang the breach charge blew the wooden house wall apart. Stepping through the brand-new door, shield raised, Elias "Blitz" Kötz led the way in. The two white masks behind the wall stared at him completely dumbfounded, at least until he dropped them with well aimed shots. Behind him, he heard the familiar sound of an AUG assault rifle going off, followed by another body hitting the floor and a sharp call "Left side clear!" Elias made sure his sector was in fact clear as well with a quick sweep to the right, then he glanced over where the third terrorist had stood on the landing watching out the window, before he turned to the man behind him and confirmed "East side lobby entrance clear, three tangoes down."

One floor above they heard another breach charge and the distinctive noise of a stun grenade. A pair of rifles fired several short bursts, then the comm crackled "First floor bedroom clear, another three tangoes down here. Goliath cover me, i'm going in. We proceed to the hostage location from the west stairs."

 _You mean.. just like planned, just like you told us 10 times on our way here?_ Elias added in his thoughts, but he didn't mention it. He knew, Monika "IQ" Weiss took reassurance from that and she was only content if everything – really everything – worked out exactly as planned, flawlessly. Elias nodded to the man behind him "Looks like we'll have to beat those two to the hostage. Please tell me you didn't leave your stun grenades in the chopper!"

Thomas Wolff, simply named 'Wolf' for this op, shook his head "Negative boss, i've got it all here. Jäger even gave me a reserve battery for your shield, just in case you forgot to charge yours again." "Yeah, that's just like him. I will slap our big-mouthed engineer once we are back on base" Elias replied with a wide grin.

* * *

Their operation was pretty much routine and straightforward: The white masks had abducted the husband of a biologist to blackmail her to stop working on a vaccine for their current favourite bio weapon. Six had received intel that their quarry was held in the couple's holiday home, a mansion near some backwater town. Easy access, no civvies nearby, opfor no more than a dozen and they even got blueprints for the house. The plan was simple: Get inside, neutralise all threats, grab the hostage, get out alive. Almost trivial, with all due "don't underestimate your enemy"; on that Six and Thatcher agreed. And without further ado, they assigned the op to Blitz, IQ and two recruits. Monika was not exactly joyful at the prospect of having to babysit a whelp during an operation, arguing how they would just slow them down, pose a risk for themselves and the whole operation and that she and Elias could easily handle this alone. But Mike "Thatcher" Baker had been adamant in that matter when he took IQ and Blitz aside after the overall briefing. "Don't waste your breath Monika, the two rookies will accompany you two sweethearts" he had said with a broad grin. Seeing the resigned look on her face he turned more serious "Listen, i know what you're thinking. But you know as well as i do, you learn nowhere near as much here in training than you learn out there in the field. And i'm not drilling those poor bastards day-in, day-out for my personal pleasure, but because we can barely keep up with the fookin masks rate of attacks. Don't know about you, but i'd prefer to actually sleep once in a while and have someone else take care of them, eh? I want two experienced operators to make sure nothing goes awry and to oversee how they handle themselves in practice. In fact they are both from the GSG9, so you can chat about football, beer, sausages, whatever you german guys usually talk about. Oh, and don't even think about to just let them guard some fookin backdoor as if they're fookin muppets. I've observed them in training before i proposed them for this and they will do decently. That's all, good luck."

* * *

Blitz had no problem with the two recruits joining them on this op, quite the contrary; the idea of mentoring and teaching them from his hard-earned experience actually had an undeniable appeal to him. Besides, the two guys really were likeable and by the time Jäger had jokingly kicked them out of his chopper at the LZ, Elias had already befriended them. Thomas Wolff was actually very much alike him, jovial and easy to talk to. He had made a show of mounting his ACOG sight onto the rifle until Jäger told him to fuck off. Where Wolff was not much taller or broader built than Monika, Felix Weber truly was a hulking giant, dwarfing even Elias, but with an agility and swiftness that belied his massive frame. Hardly surprising then, that when they were talking about that real names were to be avoided and had to be replaced by callsigns during the op, everyone agreed on 'Goliath' for him.

But for all their banter and mutual sympathy, when they were working their way through the forest and up the hill towards their objective, Elias mused that honestly it didn't matter who was on mission with him: as far as he was concerned, as long as Monika was with him he didn't care who else was on board or where they were going at all.

* * *

"The hostage's in the middle of the living room, with three tangoes around him. One more is watching the window to the south, the last one is next to the dining table, at 10 o'clock when you're through the door. There is another barricaded door that leads to the basement, but i can't get my drone in." Wolf looked up from his phone display and nodded "Ready when you are." That last piece of intel made Elias frown. A door that he didn't know of what's behind it? He remembered the blueprints; the basement was a small room for supplies with no other exit than the stairs from the living room. Why would someone be in there? To guard the beer? He dismissed the thought.

They positioned themselves to the left and right of the door barricade leading into the objective room. From the other side they heard nervous voices, discussing what to do next. It was almost comical, the enemy apparently had sent their least experienced newbies for this job. Those clowns were about to get their sorry asses kicked, big time. Elias quickly checked his shield and pistol, then glanced over to Wolf who had the rifle at his side and a stun grenade in his hand. "Remember: hold on to the pin, throw the other part!" Wolf snorted amusedly "IQ?" "Ready on your go." The familiar rush of adrenaline that preceded every push surged into his limbs "Ready. Three. Two. One. _Zugriff!"_

* * *

The barricade split like glass before Blitz' shield as he pushed through it like a battle ram. Aiming slightly to his left, he acquired his first target and shot him through the eye slit of his mask. From behind, the stun grenade flew over him and landed in front of the hostage. Quickly Blitz closed his eyes to avoid the flash, but the earsplitting blast still washed over him. He felt the hammer blow of a shotgun against his shield and triggered the flash on his shield reflexively before he opened his eyes, eager to spot and repay the man who had managed to hit him. Helplessly waving his shotgun around and a hand in front of his eyes, Blitz was about to despatch him when suddenly all of the four remaining terrorists dropped almost instantaneously. With his hearing still reduced to a soft ringing in his head, witnessing the devastating fusillade from all his fellow operators had appeared more like the hand of a wrathful god wiping out the enemy in the blink of an eye. Blitz shrugged off the thought and carefully approached the hostage. The poor bastard had borne the brunt of the stun grenade in front of him and justifiably was quite fucked up for the moment. A superficial inspection made clear that aside from that, he wasn't hurt and Blitz took a moment to assess the situation. Goliath finished examining the last of the corpses and nodded "All hostiles neutralised." "Alright. Wolf, Goliath secure the entrances. IQ, scan for unpleasant surprises." His hearing was already coming back as he could hear the soft "bings" of Monikas spectre scanner as it detected the phones of the terrorists, the tv's in the house, tablets, radio, kitchen equipment and whatnot. As he was looking around the room, his adrenaline level slowly draining, his gaze came to rest on the basement door and again he frowned. With slow, wary steps he made towards it. As he passed Monika, he pointed at the barricaded door. She nodded and swept the display around for it, grazing the figure of the hostage.

The scanner released another soft "bing".

Elias froze. "Oh fuck.." she breathed.

And before anyone else could react, she pulled out her P12 pistol and put a bullet in the skull of the hostage.

* * *

He stared at the pistol in Monikas hand, at what the .45 ACP round had done to the head of the hostage they had come to secure and tried to make sense of it. She grabbed his arm, so tightly it almost hurt "Elias, he is rigged. And he held the fuse in his hand." she whispered, her eyes wide with the enormity of what that meant. And the realisation hit him in the same moment. "It's a trap." he said, as if not really believing what he had just said.

But it was real, deadly serious. And that meant, he had to act swiftly. "Team, we're leaving. Maximum alert" his voice cold and hoarse. He switched to the emergency frequency "Command, this is Blitz. Be advised, we've been compromised. Hostage is not here, i repeat.." The sound of splintering wood behind made him turn.

* * *

Monika had retreated a few steps away from the "hostage" and now was closest to the barricaded basement door. Except that there was no barricade now. In its place stood a white mask, a bomber.

For a moment nobody moved, then everyone at once.

She stumbled backwards, raising her pistol defiantly at the terrorist. Unfazed or uncaring, the bomber made a step towards her. But before he could get any closer to her, Felix Weber was onto him. Shoving Monika back, he interposed himself between the bomber and her. His rifle barked at the white mask, but he scored only body hits.

And that was not enough to stop one. If it hadn't been his first live operation, he'd probably have known that.

For a moment, the two men stood there facing each other, silently struggling. Then they disappeared in a blinding flash of fire and noise.

* * *

Even before the horrific image of Goliath being consumed by a fireball burned into his retina could fade, all hell broke lose: Walls and windows blew open, shouts and trampling of boots all around them.

Suddenly, they were everywhere.

There was no time to think, only to act. The man rappeling at the window behind him was the first to die, his throat torn open by a bullet. He saw movement to his left where the wall had been breached and scored another two clean headshots. All around he heard rifles firing, bullets whizzing and death cries; the noise was deafening.

But still, through all this he heard the one sound that surely had sprung up from his worst nightmare: Monikas cry of pain.

Elias spun around just in time to see her fall. And as if taunting him, his mind trapped this moment for him to grasp the full horror of it: Wolf pinned down, desperately cowering behind his cover, bullets tearing in it and sending splinters of wood flying.

Goliath lying on the floor motionless, his entire upper body a bloody ruin of mangled flesh and scorched bone.

The white mask standing in the entrance from the west stairs, his smoking rifle still pointed at where Monika had stood a moment ago.

And Monika Weiss lying on the floor, clutching her stomach, in an already shockingly large pool of her blood.

Hundreds of hours of drills and training, intended for exactly this kind of situation, failed to take over his frozen body. His mind was a blank space. He couldn't think, couldn't act. He just stood there for what felt like an eternity, staring at the scene in front of him.

Something hit him in the shoulder guard, hard. It didn't shake him awake, not completely, but it was a small spark. A spark that ignited something in his mind, an emotion that quickly rose to become a roiling firestorm that burned through his lethargy.

That emotion was hate. Pure, unblemished hate. Hate for the bastard that had lured them into this trap. Hate for himself, because he had failed to protect Monika.

But mostly, hate for he who had hurt her.

In an instant, his gun was up and he riddled the terrorist's face with bullets. The kick of the pistol in his hand and the blood and brain matter spraying from the man's head were not exactly as satisfying as he'd hoped they would be, but for now it had to suffice. With his immediate thirst for vengeance quenched, he turned to something even more important: get Monika to safety. He quickly emptied his magazine into the enemies in view, then he hurried over to her. Wolf used the respite Elias had bought him, finishing off the last of the attack wave and suddenly silence fell over the room, only disturbed by the rapid breathing of the operators. Carelessly dropping shield and pistol, Elias reached down and helped Monika to lean against a cupboard, his hands trembling and slippery by her blood. Her crystal blue eyes were wide with shock and pain, her breathing went choppy. "Stay with me Monika, please. You'll be fine" he said, forcing steel in his voice for her to have something to cling on and to draw strength from, despite feeling utterly desperate at the sight of her. "Command, we've got an operator down. Need immediate MedEvac from our position. Do you copy?" His mind raced, they needed to get somewhere to defend themselves and wait out for the evac, somewhere with solid walls preferably. "Wolf, clear the basement. We need a defensible position. And if the basement isn't good, find somewhere else. Your call on this one." "Yes, sir!" he replied sharply and disappeared down the stairs.

Finally at least something from his training came back and his hands went to work on first aid. Checking her back, he found there was no exit wound, which for the moment only meant to him that there was just one hole to worry about. Painfully aware of how limited his medical knowledge actually was, he still could tell that the bullet had hit her below the rib cage, that meant no cardiac damage, no peforated lungs and no injured arteries, so the main problem for the moment was blood loss. Grabbing the wound-spray from her vest, he took one of her hands and gripped it tightly "I'm so sorry." he whispered, holding her gaze. She nodded and gritted her teeth, as he put the needle into the wound and injected. The antibacterial, disinfecting foam filled her abdomen, effectively stopping the internal bleeding. Monika let out a pained moan and squeezed his hand as if she wanted to pulp it.

With her being taken care of for the moment, Elias had time to realise that there hadn't been a reply to his evac request, or to anything at all, and he snarled at his comm "Bloody hell command, IQ is badly injured, we need that evac now! Get your heads out your as-" "Elias.." Monika wheezed and he instantly fell silent. She pulled him closer "They are jamming us.. should have detected it earlier.." "No! Nonono, this is not your fault, not at all! Listen to me, we _will_ find a way to contact command and i _will_ get you out of here. I'm not losing you, you understand?" He abruptly stood up as he heard steps from the basement stairs, then Wolf appeared int the door frame "Let's go, it's clear down there. You need to see this." "Understood, we're on our way. Cover us"

Elias gently lifted her up, but she refused to be carried all the way "Give me a shot, i'm not dead weight yet" And indeed, after a stim shot Monika walked the way down the basement stairs herself with just one of his arms as support, albeit hissing curses along the way that he had thought well beyond her.

* * *

"Yeah, small supply room my ass" Blitz cursed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. The basement actually was more of a construction site, mixed with an armoury in a small vault, stretched some 5 meters wide and 20 meters long where it ended in a tunnel exit. A fucking tunnel. "There's a faint breeze from the tunnel, so i assume it leads to some exit in the open" Wolf told him, seeing his look. An idea formed in Elias' mind. They had two exits to defend and enough weapons and ammo to fend off a small army. But despite her claims, Monika was in no shape to stand and fight. That meant it were just him and Thomas to use all those weapons. Not to mention, they still needed to establish contact with command, otherwise they would probably have actual need of all that ammo, he mused. A plan formed in his mind. Not a good plan really; more like a plan that would earn him some extra laps around the base if he'd propose it to Mike, but with options running out, it was the best he could think of now and they needed to act fast before the second wave hit them.

"Wolf, get me some explosives from our hosts stock, enough to seal the tunnel" No questioning, no panicking, he simply replied "Yes Sir" and went about to collect c4 and detonators. Elias gestured towards a seemingly solid welding machine "Over there, that should make for a decent cover for you" and he carefully rested Monika on the wall behind it. He gently patted on her helmet, weakly smiling "Don't you run away now, okay?", then he joined Wolf and helped him assemble a bundle of IEDs. Propped up on the workbench, he took a deep breath "Alright man, here's the plan. In here we are being jammed and can't call for an evac. So i need you to get out of here and establish contact with command. Get a MedEvac and all reinforcements they can muster. In the meantime, i will stay here and defend this site until help arrives. Alright? And if you've got a better idea, don't hesitate to tell me, now or never eh?" For a moment, Thomas frowned at him, then he nodded "No Sir, i guess that's the best we can make out of this situation." He hesitated. "Good luck, you two. Just.. hang on" "You too, mate. Be careful out there." They clasped eachothers arms, forearm to forearm, then Wolf turned and hurried up the stairs.

Banning him from his thoughts, Elias quickly gathered Monikas rifle, some mags for it and her pistol, fervently hoping that she wouldn't be needing them. She had removed her helmet and balaclava and her facial expression was so pale and peaceful that, for a moment, Elias feared she might be dead already. He cowered before her and gently caressed her cheek "Heyhey there, not the best time for a nap now. Come on, stay awake Monika." Her bright blue eyes opened with a smile "Don't worry, i wouldn't want to miss this." She watched around searching "Where's Wolf?" He handed over her rifle and the munition, but she grasped his arm and locked his eyes with a piercing glance "Are you leav-" He snorted "Don't be ridiculous. He's getting help, i'm staying with you. I will collapse the tunnel with this baby here, so we just have to worry about the guys upstairs." For a moment she was silent, processing what he had said and what that meant, then she shook her head "No Elias, i'm not joking. What are the chances of him getting out, or yours if you stay here? You really should-" With a dismissive wave of his hand he cut her off "Look, it's simple. I'm not leaving you here, no way. We can't just walk away with you either, so we have to hold out and trust Wolf to get help. Unfortunately, if we just stay down here, they will simply flush us out with grenades, so i will go upstairs and hold them off. But i need you to stay here." She opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly went on "Please Monika. You need rest and i can't fight if i'm worried about you. Here you are as safe as it gets, and besides, i already feel sorry for the guy who comes down those stairs-" He stopped as he heard distant shouts from above. _No time to lose then._

* * *

Shielding her with his shield and body, Elias pressed the detonator button. Despite that he had carried the bomb quite far into the tunnel, the ground beneath them still shook considerably and dust rippled from the ceiling, only to be lost in the hurricane of noise and dust that ejected from the tunnel entry. Distant screams of confusion and pain convinced him that his plan had worked, nevertheless he crawled a short distance into the tunnel and placed some claymores. Monika was still busy coughing and wiping her eyes clear of the dust, but the terrorists weren't going to wait for a written invitation. He had to hurry. "Keep your head down, my girl. I will be back in no time" Again her beautiful eyes bore into him, except now he had no time to lose himself in them like he usually did. He tried to wrest his eyes from her, but she took his face in both her hands "Yes Elias, please come back to me. I couldn't stand losing you." He managed his most reassuring smile, then he was gone.

* * *

If someone would have asked him afterwards what had happened while they were waiting for help to arrive, Elias could not have answered it. The images and sounds were blurred and merged, an endless flow of grim impressions.

But what he did know was that he had shot and shot again, killing terrorists by the score. When he finally had run out of ammo, he had dropped his pistol and rushed forward, grappling his enemies in close quarters, bludgeoning, smashing, kicking and stabbing with a captured combat blade, fighting with a skill he didn't know he possessed. He was dimly aware that he must have been hit, but he felt no pain. At some point of the chaotic melee a pistol bullet had embedded itself in the glass of his helmet visor when he had fought a white mask with a shield, so he had discarded it. The sight glass of his shield was so thoroughly splintered that he could only guess what was in front of him and his flash battery had long since failed. But he kept going without respite, never once giving thought to defeat in the face of overwhelming odds.

The first clear image he could recall after Monikas face in the cellar, pale and dusty, but still everything he needed to think of to know why he forced himself to stay upright, was that of the skull of the white mask next to him desintegrating into a red mist with the sound of a rifle that he knew very well. He smashed aside the other terrorist with his shield, followed by a vicious stab through his throat that left him on the floor, drowning in his own blood.

At the end of the hallway, through the door stepped Craig "Blackbeard" Jenson, rifleshield raised before him. Behind him, side by side the two massive, dark blue- armoured shapes of Julien "Rook" Nizan and Gustave "Doc" Kateb entered, their MP5s sweeping for targets. With a sigh of relief Elias lowered his shield and took a moment to catch his breath. Craig reached him first, worry written plainly on the bits of his face not covered by his beard and sunglasses "Jeez Blitz, you look like hammered shit. Are you alright?" Finally feeling the pain from his numerous wounds for the first time, Elias almost collapsed, but he pulled himself together. _Not yet. Not until she is safe._

"Don't worry mate, i'll survive it. Glad you could arrange to come here" Julien vehemently patted his back "Hah, still joking, of course he is going to be okay! Look at all those bad guys, not sure why we're here in the first place!" Gustave pushed him aside with an annoyed growl "He doesn't look 'alright' to me. Elias, _mon ami_ , can you-" Blitz waved him off "Doc, this will have to wait. We need to get to Monika, she's in the basement and in bad shape." A thought crept into Elias exhausted mind "Wait, where's Wolf? Is he not with you?" "The whelp that called us? Don't worry man, he's alright, guarding the chopper with Jäger" Craig assured him "Now let's get moving, stay behind me."

* * *

Sporadic bursts of fire followed them on their way over the hillside open field as the group of operators made towards their exfil point. Elias was carrying Monika, who was barely conscious now, his shield strapped on his back. When they had reached her in the basement she had weakly raised her commando rifle towards the heavy footsteps on the stairs, but let out a sigh of relief at the sight of their fellow operators. Doc had quickly assessed her condition and declared Elias had already done what could've been done in the field to help her, but that they would have to get her to their evac chopper immediately. With the effects of the stim shot having worn off completely and Doc stating that giving her another so quickly again could be very dangerous for her, Elias simply picked her up and told the others to lead the way. And that they did.

With Craig taking the point and Rook and Doc behind him, the trio formed a heavily armoured, unstoppable speartip that drove straight through the advancing next wave of the white masks. The terrorists had learned their lesson of sending groups of lightly armed infantry into the meat grinder of Elias' killing frenzy the hard way, so they had decided on a change of plan and sent bombers to finally bring an end to this supposed-to-be-easy ambush, which now had turned into such a costly mess.

None of the lumbering c4-loaded brutes ever got the chance to make their sacrifice worthwhile. Brought down with their knees shredded by sustained fire and finished off with headshots, the Rainbow operators took no chances of them detonating at all and randomly hitting them with shrapnel.

They left the house behind them, Craig still watching their front and Rook and Doc securing the rear side, but they were still far from being out of harms way. The white masks had not expected the reinforcements to arrive so quickly and certainly not while they were still dealing with the original strike team. Their outbreak had wrong-footed them further and given them the element of surprise, but they weren't dealing with amateurs and the terrorists quickly recovered, sending all they had after their escaping prey.

Rook ejected another empty magazine "Loading mag, cover me. Gus, _à droite_!" Elias felt two more rounds bounce off his shield. Suddenly his comm went alive for the first time since a felt eternity "I got a visual on you guys, engine ready for lift-off in a few moments. Oh crap.. you got quite a mob on your heels. Wolf, get on that .50 cal and give them hell!" Marius "Jäger" Streicher's composed voice sounded. Elias couldn't help but smile at the sound of his friend's voice, which to him always meant a safe ride to the operation site (or just to some bar really) or a welcome evac, even under fire "You know i always enjoy hearing your voice _mein freund_." "Elias, you crazy bastard! Wolf here told me you had him call me because you forgot to recharge the bloody batteries for your precious shield, _again_. So, of course i came here with all possible haste, because i know you just can't do without your big flashlight." "Keep talking idiot, this time i owe you turning a blind eye!" he laughed.

Behind him Rook suddenly grunted and Doc yelled "Julien!" Elias threw his head around, but Rook was still on his feet, unswervingly returning fire in controlled bursts. "I'm fine Gus, it just hit the plate." He coughed, struggling for breath "I'm still in this!"

Elias risked a quick glance up the hill. It convinced him to run faster.

 _Fuck, how many more of them are there?!_

He could hear the chopper now, but beyond the barely visible silhouette of Craig in front him the darkness of the moonless night was impenetrable. Just when he was about to ask how much farther they'd have to go, the darkness only 100m in front of them lit up with sudden flashes of machinegun fire. The heavy barrage forced the white masks to scatter into cover, blasting apart those too slow to react with high-calibre shells, releasing the pressure on the team. "Now run!" Marius yelled at them. Rook and Doc ceased fire and turned around, using the bought time and broke into a run.

The next thing Elias knew was Julien plunging into the hold of the chopper "All aboard Jäger, time to beat it!" "Hold on, ladies. This is about to get a little bumpy."

* * *

 _She is safe. Finally, she is safe._

Gustave had reassured him that he had done a good job and that Monika would be back on her feet in no time. Elias just shook his hand, lost for words. He sat beside her on the floor of the chopper, carefully taking her hand. She opened her eyes and they shared a wordless smile, until her eyelids fluttered and she gave in to the pain killers. For a moment he just watched her, chest rising and falling slowly, but so incredibly soothing. He took his eyes from her and looked around the chopper hold.

Dimly lit by the console lights, Marius looked over his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. Gustave inspected the hit on Julien's chest armour, who quietly cursed in french. Craig struggled to smoke a cigarette in the blowing wind, obviously satisfied with the mission success.

Only Wolf sat at the open hatch of the chopper, staring outside. He had removed his balaclava and the handsome features under his sweaty dark hair seemed to be cast in stone. Elias settled himself next to him near the hatch and laid a hand on his shoulder, but Wolf didn't seem to notice. He knew all too well what would be going on in his friend's head and he had to say something now, before Thomas would bury all the hate, guilt and grief in his mind where it would only fester and over time pain him even more.

Elias cleared his throat. This never was easy. "There's nothing we could have done. It was his decision. Felix died as a hero, selflessly putting himself into harms way to protect Monika." He paused, swallowing at the suddenly recurring picture of Goliath disappearing in the flash of the bomber. His grip on Thomas shoulder tightened "It was an honour to serve with him, an honour to be his friend" his voice hoarse. "And speaking of honour, don't even think for a moment that we're finished with this. We're not leaving him there." "Hell no. We'll be back in no time, be sure of that mate" Craig affirmed, his voice a growl of barely restrained wrath. "And when we are back, we will kill each and every one of those fuckers and get our friend home." "Then we will find who set us up like this, and kill him as well" Elias added. Thomas slowly turned his head away from the night passing by them, looking from Craig to Elias, and he recognised the same burning rage in the other man's grey eyes that boiled in himself too. "Don't go without me." Thomas simply said and for a moment, Elias could clearly see why he was called Wolf: the look he gave him was that of an animal, a predator and a killer; beaten and hurt for sure, but that just made him even more lethally dangerous. He turned his gaze back towards the night out there, with small dots of light scattered over the landscape indicating villages. "One hell of a trial by fire" Thomas mumbled. Elias was about to agree and maybe even give a witty comment to try and lighten up the mood a little..

* * *

They never saw where the bullet came from. Elias had just turned his head away from the hatch to look after Monika, when he heard the impact, first on the casing of Thomas' AUG rifle and then the ricochet hit the armour of the chopper interior with a dull bang. He heard the casing shatter and Thomas cry out in pain. He also felt a light numbing touch on his cheek, as if someone had sprinkled his face with icy water. Not thinking any further about it, his head spun around to see after Thomas, but he suddenly noticed something was wrong with his eyesight.

Slowly but surely, his focus turned all blood-red. He heard voices shout out, he even thought he heard his name, but it seemed to be far away and moving away further yet. His vision started to spin and go dark, he felt like he was about to throw up. The last thing he realised was a brutal pull on his collar and a face close to his, probably talking to him. Then he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Glad to have you back, Elias."

Who was that again? He had heard this voice before. Deep, calming, a soft accent. He definitely had heard it before.

For a moment, his mind still struggled to grasp one of the slippery thoughts out of the mist in his head. His whole body felt numb, distant, as if not his own. There was pain, too. From his shoulder, both legs and face he felt a dull pounding with every beat of his heart. It felt as if he had both been in the middle of a wild brawl and running extra drills like those when Mike was in especially foul mood, so exhausted and weak he was. Then he shook off the last of his confusion, and it all came back to him.

The op. A total fuck up. _A trap._ Goliath dead. Monika wounded, badly.

Then the waiting for help. How he had slaughtered the attacking white masks. Craig, Julien and Gustave coming to their aid. _Gustave. That's him. I must be in the infirmary._

The way from the house down the hill to the waiting chopper.

The flight away. Monika would live. His short conversation with Thomas, then a cry of pain.

A crimson scenery. Then his memory failed him.

Concern lent him a sudden surge of energy and he tried to sit up, opening his eyes. Or actually, just one eye.

Immediately the dull pain turned into flaming agony and he sank back, gritted teeth muffling his scream. A hand settled on his chest, gently keeping him pinned to the soft mattress.

He saw a blurred silhouette beside him and quickly blinked, finally gaining clear focus.

"Don't, Elias. You really need rest. I know i say this a lot, but now i _mean it_. For once listen to me, _mon ami_ " Gustave told him, a small smile on his face that failed to conceal all of his worry and .. something else too. Elias was worried too, the fact that he could only open one eye unsettled him as much as the odd expression on the medic's face. But first things first.

His voice barely above a whisper, he asked the one question that burned in his mind "Monika.. Wolf, the others.. are they okay?" Now the smile on Doc's face grew wider and turned completely genuine " _Oui_ , they are. Ms. Weiss is on the best way to complete recovery. Mr. Wolff is ready to leave the infirmary tomorrow. Mr. Jenson, Nizan and Streicher have not suffered injuries that would require them to be here at all."

Elias felt all the tension leave his body in an instant and breathed a sigh of relief. For a few moments he allowed himself to simply drift on this feeling of satisfaction, knowing his team – _no, his family –_ was safe.

His relaxation was interrupted by Gustaves voice, that suddenly had not the slightest hint of a smile in it anymore. "Don't you want to know what happened?" Elias looked at him again, the frenchman holding his gaze firmly. "Tell me, please" he replied, nodding slightly. Gustave took a deep breath, then he began " _Bien_.. before you fell unconscious, we took another hit. A bullet ricochetted from the casing of Mr. Wolff's rifle harmlessly into the chopper hull."

"I remember that.." Elias wheezed.

"Yes. The bullet splintered the casing. Mr. Wolff was hit by fragments of it, but he won't suffer permanent damage from that. The others in the hold were shielded from the shrapnel by his body." He paused. "You sat beside him at that moment. Your neck armour saved you from the worst, but without your visor, fragments pierced the left side of your face." Another pause. Elias felt his hands slightly trembling and quickly clenched his fists.

"Most of the pieces were easy to remove, leaving superficial scars at most. But a part of your ear was torn off as well. Furthermore, one fragment embedded itself close to your eye socket. So close in fact, that at the moment we can't yet determine whether there will be permanent damage to your eyesight." His expression was full of compassion and, for some reason, also guilt? Elias cleared his throat and swallowed the bile that had crept into his mouth "Not your fault Gustave, it's nobody's fault.." He weakly gripped the man's hand with his IV-infused one. "I know you did everything possible in the world.. and i thank you for that." A weak smile brightened up the medic's face, then he got a grip on himself, turning professional again. "It will take about two weeks for the wound to heal to the point that we can properly assess it. By that time, the other hairline fractures and bruises will most likely be healed so far that you will be allowed to receive visitors, or maybe even allow you to go for have a little walk."

 _Two more weeks it was then_. Elias appreciated the time for himself, he sorely needed it right now. There was much to think about.

Gustave patted his hand, then turned to leave. At the door, he shot him a look over the shoulder "If you need anything, just let me know, _mon ami_. Oh and by the way, if you see Craig, you might want to buy him a beer. He grabbed you when you were about to fall out of the chopper." "I will consider it, thank you" Elias chuckled.

* * *

On the second day Elias already felt like he was going mad. Not only the boredom and loneliness wore him down, so too did another, entirely different matter.

Having had an entire day worth of undisturbed time to think about it, he was finally sure that Monika was more to him than just a friend, he wanted her to be more, no actually he _needed_ her to be more; having escaped the jaws of hell this time only with a strength borne of desperation to get her out of harm's way had cleared any doubt he might have harbored about that.

But that also was the problem that drove him more crazy with each passing minute he thought about it: Sure, the two of them had shared a great bond ever since he had finally cracked the facade of the infamous 'ice queen'. She had gradually warmed, first to him and then, with a little help, to the other operators from Rainbow as well. They looked out for each other, both on the field and away from it. And sure, in that cellar she had told him she could not stand losing him.

But he was not sure whether it was just wishful thinking on his part that she had ment that genuinely the way he wanted it to be, or rather something she would have said to anyone in that situation, something to motivate them, something that the wounded was sort of _obliged_ to say to the rescuer.

All those uncertainties gnawed on him in a way that prevented him from getting any real rest. It went so far that he even asked Doc to drug him into an artificial coma so he could give his mind a pause and his body time to heal more effectively. To his credit, Gustave had not questioned him and kept a straight face, as if understanding, when he simply nodded.

* * *

When Elias woke up, he almost felt like reborn. The numbness in his limbs from his last memory was completely gone, replaced by a feeling like his body was about to burst with renewed vigour. The pain itself was reduced to the point that he could easily ignore it, even without painkillers.

But most importantly, both his eyes were open now. And despite the fact that his hurt left one was still a little out of focus and feeling a slight pressure in it, he was way more happy with this than with half his field of vision gone.

Gustave had appeared no more than a minute after he had woken up, wearing a satisfied grin that could only mean one thing. "You will be pleased to hear that the internal overpressure in your eyeball that resulted from the inital trauma has decreased to almost normal level. I will have to run some more tests now that you are awake, just to be sure, but i'm optimistic that aside from some masculine scars, nothing of this will stay with you." Elias wide smile easily matched the one of the frenchman "You bet i am pleased to hear this, mate. Oh, err, didn't you say something about me going for a quick walk?" Instantly the smile on Gustave's face changed into a concerned frown. "First of all. There is no such a thing as 'quick' for you at the moment. You did yourself a huge favour with the last two weeks, considering your progress. I'm not going to let you ruin this by something foolhardy." His expression softened "But yes, once i'm done checking your eye, you have my clearance for a walk around the infirmary. And _only_ the infirmary, _compris_?"

* * *

Gustave first helped him out of the bed and then accompanied him to the door to the hallway. "From here on i will leave you alone, you're a big boy after all. _Please_ , go easy on yourself. I will be in the lab if you need anything and i expect you to inform me about any incident. If anything feels out of order, you sit down and call me immediately, i mean it." "No worries mate. As much as i enjoy your company, i have no plans to stay here any longer than necessary" Elias winked "Which way was Monika's room again?" The medic couldn't help but smile when he told him.

* * *

Despite what he had told Gustave, once he was out of sight he practically ran down the stairway and through the hallways, passing empty rooms on both sides, his excitement growing with each step he got closer to her. When he turned the last corner into the hallway where Monika's room was located, he almost ran into her. She obviously was as breathlessly surprised as he was, but recovered faster.

"Elias! Gustave just told me you were awake and ready for visitors-" Her sight rendered him speechless. In his memory she was still pale and exhausted from the mission and her wound, but nevertheless he had thought her to be perfect, even at that moment. But seeing her now, with her gold-blonde hair, the flawless face with those small, cute freckles and her well-formed shape dressed in simple hang-out clothes, especially after they had been separated for a while now was like a whole other world entirely. Without a second thought he pulled her closer and embraced her. For a moment she was surprised, then she fiercely hugged him back. Burying his face in her hair, he breathed in her scent like a drowning gasping for breath. For a long moment they just stood there, both enjoying the closeness of each others bodies. Finally, they separated and their gazes met, both of them smiling broadly. "Monika, what a coincidence to meet you here! Did you too bump your toe against the cupboard? Let me tell you, that's not to be underestimated, it hurts like hell!"

Despite the rather lame joke, she still rewarded him with the laugh that he loved so much "You're such an idiot Elias." For a moment he struggled for words, too much going on in his head at once to form something meaningful. Then an idea struck him. Checking his watch, he noticed it to be just after midnight "You know what, how about we get up to the roof and get some fresh air?" Monika gave him a playful frown "Are you sure Gustave would approve of that?" "Absolutely not!" He grinned on both ears. So did she. "He's probably going to put me down for jeopardising your recovery. He'll give his 'sometimes in order to save a life, you have to take one' -speech and drug me into a vegetable until you are fully healed." He chuckled "Then let's not get caught!"

* * *

The mild summer night was simply perfect. Despite the bright lighting of the base around them, from the roof of the infirmary they had an amazing view on the stars above them. Sharing a bench in comfortable silence, for a while they just sat there, both occupied with their respective thoughts.

After a while, Elias wanted to break the silence, to give voice to everything in his head: about the mission, about Felix, about _them_. But he had no idea how to start, which certainly didn't happen often to him. Fortunately, she made the first move again.

"You know, i can't stop thinking about it. How Felix put himself in front of me without a moment's hesitation. It seriously wears me down." She turned her head towards him and he could see the pained look in her eyes "Tell me, Elias: Can my life be worth the life of another? Can _anyone's_ be worth it?" He understood her struggle, he'd been in her situation before during his time in the KSK. And just like his instructor had told him back then, he repeated it "It's not about being worth it, Monika. He didn't weigh your life against his, neither should you. All he saw was a teammate in danger and yes, he acted without a moment's hesitation. Like all of us would. Because that's what we do, we protect each other, no matter the cost. And he certainly wouldn't want you to tear yourself apart over it." Tears formed in her eyes "But how am i supposed to live with that responsibility?" Back then, he had asked the exact same question.

"I guess there's no easy answer to this" he sighed "As banal as it sounds, make it worthwhile. Like i said, he wouldn't want you to ruin your life with grieving and would not like to see you crying now. Accept that he made his choice, be thankful for his sacrifice and the gift he gave you. Or simply: be happy until you grow old and wrinkled" he added with a wink, wiping a tear from her cheek. She held his gaze for a few moments, thinking about it. Then she smiled gratefully.

"Speaking of which.. did i already thank you?" "Honestly, i have no idea what you did while i was firmly asleep! Maybe i should ask if there's a cam in my room.." She blushed and he suddenly had a suspicion. "No way, you bad girl crept into my room while i was sleeping the sleep of the just?!" he laughed and the deepening shade of red on her face was all the response he needed.

Suddenly turning serious, he put her hand in his "But i could ask you the same actually: Did i thank _you_?" "Thank me for what, Elias?" she asked with a seriously confused look.

He tilted his head with a gentle smile "Hmm let me think.. there's so much i could thank you for, but let's just begin with what's happened most recently.." In spite of his superficially relaxed smile, he felt his heart thunder in his chest with the knowledge that what he was about to do would decide _everything_ for him. _The die is cast, no way to turn back now._

"I could thank you for saving both our lifes on that lousy rescue mission." She snorted "Elias, there's a point where even modesty just becomes too much. You saved me when i was on the brink there, and you know it too."

He gave her a cheeky grin "Yeah sure, i did earn myself a promotion there right? But seriously, there's no way i could have done that without you. You gave me the strength to fight them away, you were the reason that kept me going when it all seemed lost. I have fought just for myself to stay alive somehow before, but this time it was different, this time i knew your life depended on it too and that made me fight all the harder. Because, just like you said in that cellar.. i couldn't stand losing you either. I mean, we're all a family and of course i would take a bullet for everyone from the team, but with you.. it's just-" he stuttered, not sure how to describe the crippling void that filled his heart whenever he thought about how close he had been to losing her forever, or the chilling numbness, mingled with unbearable guilt for having failed to protect her when he recalled the grisly image of her going to the ground, lying in a pool of her own blood.

The sudden resurgence of that picture in his mind choked his pitiful attempt of getting his confession back on track and he had to avert his gaze from her, eyes staring at him wide with surprise, feeling utterly miserable for his failure. He was close to getting up, march back in his room and tell Gustave to drug him into oblivion again-

"Elias, please look at me" she said, tender hand gently turning his chin and her soft voice cut through the bleak thoughts clouding his mind like a beacon, and he clinged to it. When he met her gaze again, her eyes, her whole expression were filled with a warmth he had never seen with her before and the sight easily drove back the coldness that had taken hold of him a moment ago.

"You don't have to say more, i know that feeling all too well. It grips me every time you lead the way into danger, every time i see someone point a gun at you. But let me tell you something. Do you know why me and the other guys from the team are so relaxed and focused when going on a mission? And even when someone gets hurt, nobody ever panics? We know you are with us. We know we can do our jobs and get home safe and sound, because you are looking after us. And that's all i was thinking when i got hit: I knew you were with me, and by that i knew i was going to be alright. Even when me or someone else fucks up and gets his toe bumped for a lesson." she said with a wink. He sure made for a hilarious sight at that moment, his face a prime example of astonishment, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, obviously lost for words. Her magnificent laugh didn't make it any better "Oh dear, look! I broke my shield bearer! Hmm i wonder if this helps-"

* * *

Had Gustave bothered to don Elias with a heart rate monitor, he surely would have raised a building-wide alarm at this point, as a heart rate accelerated to such an extent, followed by several skipped beats would draw the immediate attention of every physician worthy of that title.

* * *

Elias on the other hand wouldn't have wanted to change places with anyone on the planet in this moment. One of his hands holding hers, the other gently stroking her hair, everything became meaningless except for the soft lips of the angel beside him on his own. While he wasn't exactly a practiced kisser, he tried his best to make up what he lacked in experience with raw emotion. His confidence grew with each passing moment, and he carefully pushed forward his tongue, only to be met by hers, eagerly waiting for him to make his move. Tenderly the explored each other, both shivering with excitement, until they had to sepearate, gasping for breath.

"That was-" "-incredible!" she nodded, her face beaming with happiness. "Yeah, let's do that again!" he smirked. Suddenly her smile vanished in concern "Elias, your face!" He frowned in confusion, held up his hand to touch it, only then noticing the red smear on her cheek. "Oh crap, i'm smudging all your face with red.." he pulled out a hanky and went about to clean her up, while she tried to stop the bleeding with another.

"Sorry my dear" she whispered when he flinched at her pressure near his eye "Does it still hurt a lot?" "Nah, it's no big deal really. As long as my girlfriend doesn't mind the scars, i'm fine with it."

Her smile would have melted a reinforcement faster than the torch of that new operator from the Delta Force ever could. "Oh, don't you worry about that.."

* * *

With the blood-drenched hanky plastered over the left half of his face he certainly made for a curious sight to behold, but he couldn't care less. With the head of his love safely embedded in his lap, he lovingly caressed her hair as they watched the sunrise on the horizon.

For Elias, that sunrise didn't just mean a new day, to him it felt like a whole new world had opened up to him, with Monika at his side.

A better world.

* * *

 _So, this is my first ever fan fic, i hope you enjoyed reading this far and have a kitty close at hand to punch after that cringy-corny last part. Feel free to leave a review, critiques are more than welcome, as i can only really improve upon things that i am (made) aware of :)_


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